Seeing Personal Finance Bloggers Just Treading Water Bums Me Out

Seeing Personal Finance Bloggers Just Treading Water Bums Me Out

I have been blogging for about 4 and half years and during that time I have interacted and followed a ton of blogs. I don’t read personal finance blogs because of the information they are sharing, but rather, the stories they are telling. For some reason, I am able to empathize with their situation regardless of the debt they may be in or the wealth they have already built, in a way that I don’t often do in my personal offline life. As such, there is nothing that bums me out then rediscovering or even just watching a personal finance blogger treading water.

It is easy to understand when people who don’t have a personal finance meeting with their spouse (I do not do that) or a blog post to write about what you accomplished last month may tread water. When you aren’t thinking about your personal finances in a way that makes them real, they can easily be ignored.

However, when one is paying close attention to their debt and finances I have to think they feel bad when that number doesn’t change month over month and then year over year. I am really rooting for those bloggers that I read regularly. I want them to be successful whatever their definition of that word may be. So when it doesn’t happen I legitimately feel bad.

I don’t want to call out who inspired me to write this post as it wouldn’t be right, but I really wanted to believe that after rediscovering her blog a 6 months or so later she and her family would be in a completely different situation…and they just aren’t.

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Evan is the owner of My Journey to Millions which was started to track his journey from a broke debt ridden law school graduate to building a positive balance. Need more Evan? Follow him on Twitter, Contact him or get new posts directly to your email

I hear you. On the flip side, I can’t stand reading blogs who complain about how bad they have it when others would kill to be in their shoes. Couple in particular lately are falling from ‘must read’ status in the past to ‘pretty close to unsubscribing’ status.

Yeah, that sucks. It’s a tough time to be trying to gain momentum. Little positive has happened for the middle class lately aside from the stock market gains so if you aren’t invested there, it is definitely hard to move forward.

Nah, that’s bullshit. I’ll read some debt blogs and just to see them have a post “I just bought a 60inch tv b/c it was on sale” meanwhile their debt is on their sidebar increasing again just bums me out.

I’m not going to lie, I feel like the PF blogger that is just treading water sometimes. I set pretty lofty goals for myself and I’m a bit terrified that if I don’t hit them, that if things only get marginally better, that I will be seriously disappointing people like you.

As long as people are moving in the right direction I’m happy for them but when they seem like they’ve quit trying and go into more debt for stupid things I get irritated. Buying a house and other life moves are expected but if you’re just not managing your spending well I feel bad. If it was just a personal blog it’d be OK but if you’re dispensing PF advice then I sometimes wonder.

I think success is such a subjective subject. It varies from person to person. A post a month might be ample to one person whereas someone who posts every time they go grocery shopping or makes a financial transaction is their prerogative!

i think if someone is setting aggressive goals and trying hard to achieve them, its okay if they don’t exactly hit them, but hopefully they get close to those goals in the process. Somebody who makes no attempt to get there has either set the wrong goals or may need some extra help to help get back on track. Knowing that you need help in that situation is key, and unfortunately, thats not something that some people grasp.

My Journey to Millions

My Journey to Millions is an 8 year old personal finance blog focused on topics including basic personal finance issues, advanced insurance planning, high net worth estate planning. In addition, there is a particular focus on dividend growth investing and option trading.